Issue 1. Financial ruin.

It sounds so counterintuitive, but those who suddenly inherit a lot of money can very quickly fall into financial difficulty just as fast. Consider, if you will, the fact that over 70 percent of NFL and NBA athletes are bankrupt or in dire financial straits within five years of retirement.

Why? Many people believe it is because these people are not psychologically and financially prepared to deal with the issues that come with large amounts of wealth. For many people, questions about money are relegated to assistants, friends and family members who may be ill-prepared to render proper advice and services. These people may also take advantage of the people whose money they are supposed to manage, often leading to not just financial ruin, but destroyed personal relationships.

Issue 2. Happiness.

Neither the poor nor the wealthy have a monopoly on happiness. However, while you are much less likely to be happy if you are poor, your chance at being happy does not increase proportionally with the size of your wealth. Researchers have determined that beyond a minimal amount of money you need to live and to meet certain desires and needs, happiness does not typically come from material possessions, but rather from a sense of purpose and meaning that we derive from other sources. Inheriting wealth is often a hindrance to this sense of purpose as there are few obstacles a person must overcome when their wealth allows them to indulge any whim.

The Hammond Law Group is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

The Family Wealth Trust secures more than money and property – it also protects your memories. Many tools exist to preserve the moments from family holidays, birthdays and vacations. Scrapbooks, videos, journals, and family trees become part of the trust to be passed through the ages. Each generation can add their own memories to the trust for the entire family to cherish. Heirs enjoy knowing the joys and the sorrows their family has lived through, and a strong family history gives the family members a strong sense of self.

Try these record-keeping tools for securing the family moments and history:

Scrapbooks

One of the best tools for preserving the memories of your family through the ages is a scrapbook. Scrapbooks contain photos, papers and little bits of nostalgia collected from events and family members. Scrapbook making parties can bring together family members with their collected photographs, documents and little items saved from a moment in time. The family arranges the page layouts, swaps photos and supplies, all while swapping stories. If family members are miles apart, they can create virtual scrapbooks online.

Handwritten Journals

Stories written in the penmanship of ancestors; fountain pens to ink pens to gel pens. The end of the pages yellow with age, and the books become treasured vaults of ancestors’ stories. A handwritten journal provides the reader with the innermost thoughts and experiences of the writer. Events are captured in a way no photograph could relate. These journals often record more than family events, they record moments of world events. Imagine reading an ancestor’s Civil War experiences or learning what a great-grandfather felt about being so far from his wife and children during wartime.

If you don’t know where to start with a journal, many bookstores carry guided journals with question prompts and space to write your responses. Sometimes the prompts jog your memory into remembering so much more than free-form writing.

Family Tree

Tracing the family tree can involve tracing the family genealogy through the ages. Some discover interesting relatives important to the history of the country; others find out they are related to royalty. Studying the genealogy of your family gives you insight as to where, and whom, you came from. By researching the family’s origins family members might also research the times and conditions in which they lived. Children can relate the history lessons in school to the history of their family.

Video Storytelling

A wonderful gift to your family after you pass on is a video recording of you telling family stories. Family members have a piece of you to view and treasure forever as you relate stories of your childhood, adolescent years and adulthood. These stories become treasures for telling again and again, and there is no asking, ‘how’d that story go?’

In whatever way you choose to document and preserve your memories for future generations, involving your family can allow them to contribute their own stories and memories and make a great foundation for your Family Wealth Trust.

The Hammond Law Group is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.